- Pace79 · rather frantic
- A button every two and a half seconds, falling on its own if you wait, chains of merges going off, a music-box tune speeding up from 120 to 144 beats per minute; you aim fast, with no dead time.
- Difficulty71.5 · rather merciless
- If a button stays above the neck, the stage starts again with an empty jar, one or two minutes lost. After two overflows the buttons that fall are a little smaller, without the game saying so.
- Tone91.5 · unsettling
- An eyeless doll that turns her head while you play, buttons that open eyes and follow your finger, a white hand that shakes the jar, and an ending where she is still missing an eye.
- Story26 · rather silent
- Few words: one line per stage to name the trick, and a few words on an overflow. The story is in the doll, who changes every stage, and in the last image.
- Scale61.4 · in between
- Everything fits in a jar on a sewing table, but the buttons grow into copper discs and then a moon, and through the window behind, the stars are watching too.
- Form65.3 · rather strange
- The merge game everyone knows, where two alike make a bigger one, with an invented trick each stage: buttons sewn together, eyes that only pair with eyes, a hand that shakes, a jar that tilts.
- Look91.5 · lush
- A crowded sewing table: spools, pins, scissors, a check tablecloth, an amber lamp, the window and the night, a glass jar full of reflections, and buttons all different, mother-of-pearl, enamel, wood, copper, with their holes and thread. Toned down on old phones.
The theme
At night, in a seamstress's workroom, an eyeless rag doll sits behind a jar of buttons. You drop buttons in; two alike that touch become one, bigger. The buttons grow into copper discs, then a moon. Meanwhile the doll turns her head toward you, buttons open eyes, and a hand comes to shake the jar. In the end the moon rises into the doll's empty socket. She is still missing an eye, and she is looking at you.
The mechanics
Aim with finger, mouse or arrow keys, and drop the button with a tap (Space); if you wait too long, it falls on its own. Buttons roll and pile up in the jar, and two alike that touch merge into a bigger one. Each stage asks for a bigger button and adds a trick: buttons sewn together in pairs, eyes that only merge with eyes, a hand that shakes the jar, then a jar that tilts. If buttons overflow the neck, the stage starts again with an empty jar.
Palette
Workroom at night: dark wood #2a1a14, burgundy check tablecloth #5a1e24, amber lamp #ffb35a, bluish jar glass #9fc6d8 with white highlights, buttons of mother-of-pearl #f2efe6, red enamel #c8402c, blue #3a6aa8, yellow #e0b03a, green #5a8a4a, plum #8a4a8a, copper #b8742a, and the moon #d8d4c8. Red thread, pins, spools. Rye for the title, Petrona for the rest. Cosy, then crooked.
